Thursday, December 12, 2013

Anishinabe Scout

There's another statue in Major's Hill Park, looking to the west. This is an Anishinabe scout, one of the local First Nations tribes. The sculpture once stood at the base of the Champlain monument, over on nearby Nepean Point (I've shown that one to you before.)

The statue was moved here where it still looks out over the Ottawa River (you can see the river through the grasses in the first shot) out of cultural sensitivities that it rendered the scout inferior to Champlain at its original location. Ironically, the statue had a better view over on the Point.

This statue can be found at the north end of the park, close to this building below. The groundskeeper's house is a small one, and these days plays host to a rotating group of artists on weekends from May into October. It's across from the National Gallery, where the work on replacing glass in the tower continues. I last showed you the Gallery in this post. I took this shot several weeks ago, and there's even more of the tower now exposed from the iceberg canvas that has encased it all summer.

@Ciel: the reasons are understandable, and here the sculpture gets to have the spotlight to itself.

@Angelika: if I recall, the sculpture pairing of Champlain and the scout was meant to convey Champlain's good relationship with First Nations peoples. Unfortunately by having the scout at the base of the monument, it doesn't really give us a working partnership.

@Stuart: the sculptor really did fine work with it.

@Haddock: I wanted the over the shoulder point of view shot, but the profile one works best.

@Tanya: thank you!

@Norma: I'll have to come over here again in January or February and take it again for the winter's effect